SC directs authorities to reduce pollution

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) to furnish the details of federal government’s steps to control pollution.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, while hearing a constitutional petition pertaining to air pollution in the country, asked Additional Attorney General Nayyar Rizvi to submit details of the federal government’s steps controls population.

“I even asked the AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali to provide the details regarding the matter in a chamber meeting”, said the CJP. The chief justice also lamented that Pakistan is among the countries with the lowest amount of trees. He wondered that why the governments are not taking steps to grow trees.
The bench was astonished to learn that the air pollution level in the courtroom was 39 particulate matter (pm) instead of 10 pm, which was checked by petitioner Venu G Advani, a resident of Karachi.

Some 20,000 premature deaths linked to air pollution

The bench has expressed dissatisfaction over the federal and provincial governments’ replies over the petition, filed by Advani. The court has asked them to file a fresh reply within 15 days.

The petition states that it is necessary to adopt the World Bank’s report to control pollution and non-implementation of guidelines by the federal government and provincial government over the last five years has aggravated the situation.

“Environmental Protection Agency has an integral role to play in every province. The budget of the functionaries needs to be enhanced and their powers should also be broadened. This is one of the main points of the World Bank’s report which is still pending implementation”, says the petition.

It is also submitted that there is an impending need for identification of major pollution being emitted from the industrial sector. For instance, 25 PM is detrimental to the health of pregnant women and children.

There must be air purifiers implemented in every school, and face masks must also be mandated for the health of children to improve the situation. It is also essential that cars which cause pollution should not be allowed to crowd around schools. On the broader note, even a minuscule increase in the pollution index leads to a ten years decrease in the life expectancy of individuals”, claims the petition.

The petitioner has also urged that Pakistan should also switch over to the electric cars in the near future just as China intends to. Similarly, the use of diesel vehicles is the most hazardous of all vehicles, which must be stopped by 2020.

Meanwhile, the bench has summoned the owners of cement factories including Mian Mansha on April 20, in another hearing of the suo motu case of the drying of Katas Raj pond in Chakwal.

The chief justice expressed annoyance over the cement factories for not making any alternate arrangements for water. The underground water level has been lowered down and residents of that area are facing immense difficulties due to a shortage of water caused by these factories. He noted that cement factories have destroyed the beauty of Kallar Kahar’s hills.

Source: Express Tribune